Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Read for: Leisure
Rating: 4

Ender's Game has been one of my favorite books since I read it a few years ago in high school and ever since then I have slowly but surely been making my way through the rest of the books in the "Enderverse" series. Ender's Shadow tells pretty much the same story as Game, except from the perspective of the character Bean. It's nice to get a different perspective on Battle School, Ender, and the Bugger War. Also, it's nice to have another book devoted to kids, as the other books in the series that I have read have focused on Ender when he is an adult.

What concerns me most about this book is that through it I started to dislike Bean. I know exactly where it happened, too: page 217. Bean is quite the analytical Machiavellian character, which usually I enjoy--in a minor character. However, I felt that since this book is all about Bean, the Machiavellian concepts were overkill, instead of being a useful perspective on how the Bugger war could have turned out. I got a little bit sick of reading all about how Bean would do things differently if he were the commander and him comparing himself to Ender. Of course, I must admit that I have a bias because, like so many characters in the book, I nurse a fierce loyalty and devotion to Ender.

This novel is the first in the parallel "Shadow" series. For more information about the order of the books and timeline of events, I found this Wikipedia entry very useful. I'm excited to read the rest of the books in the "Shadow" series, but first I think I am going to go back and re-read Ender's Game, since it has been awhile. It's always nice to revisit a favorite, right?